Florida mistakenly labels man as sex offender

Andrew Flaherty spent five months with a state-issued Florida ID that labeled him as a sex offender, even though he had never been accused or convicted of such a crime.

Originally from Louisiana, Flaherty received the ID in Jacksonville after becoming a legal Florida resident, and that's where the mistake was made.

Although Flaherty didn't appear in any sex offender registeries, the employee at the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles accidentally answered "yes" when the computer system asked if Flaherty was a sex offender, according to The Florida Times-Union.

Flaherty was made aware of the mistake in March and has since received an apology letter from the Duval County Tax Collector and $31.25 from the DMV to pay for a new ID, the Times-Union reports.

But Flaherty says that doesn't cover the damage that was done to his reputation by being labeled a sex offender, which is why he's suing Duval County Tax Collector’s Office for $15,000 in damages.